Bolton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion (or That Damn Peter Odemwingie)

The Nigerian striker will be fit again to play Bolton on Boxing Day.  He is pivotal to what West Brom do, and will make things difficult for the Wanderers.  Not only does he score (6 goals in 11 matches), but his presence and intelligent movement creates space as well as opportunity for the Baggies' midfielders.

If I am honest, Odemwingie (pictured, right) is exactly the type of player Bolton tend to struggle against.  Of course, we have only kept one clean sheet all season, so I think it would be fair to say we struggle against most strikers.

These two clubs played to a draw a couple months ago, in a wide-open attacking match that was one of the finest spectacles of this season.  West Brom will have had two weeks to prepare for this match because of weather-related postponements, while Bolton are coming off an away loss in one of only three matches played last weekend.  Whether this provides an edge to either side on Sunday I am not sure, but going into a run of four matches in eleven days, we may see some squad rotation on both sides.

West Bromwich Albion v Bolton Wanderers

The second half of this match was some of the best football you are ever going to see.  Just a thrilling, end-to-end affair, the technical ability, the tackling, managers matching wits, it was all there.  A great advertisement for the game, as well as for the new positive attacking mentality that has been present at many clubs who would have previously been expected to pack it in and play for a draw.  In all honesty, it was far greater spectacle than the Chelsea v Arsenal snoozefest down in London.

A draw was probably a fair result, although both clubs had several opportunities to secure all three points.  Martin Petrov may have got a deflected goal against Manchester United, but he appears to have left his scoring boots in a brothel somewhere outside Sophia.  One player I really want to mention for West Brom is Peter Odemwingie (pictured, below).  He has been a absolute revelation since he arrived, and it was a real coup for Roberto Di Matteo to sign him.

In my season preview, I wrote of West Brom;

They count on midfielders Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans to provide the goals, as principal striker Roman Bednar just can't get it done at this level. Brunt is only 25, a Northern Irish international who has always shown a knack for scoring goals, and Di Matteo will rely heavily on him.

Don't be fooled...

At about this time last year Burnley beat Manchester United. I am just saying, I am sure the Blackpool supporters had a wonderful day out on Saturday, but don't be expecting any miracles.

As for Wigan, expect to see Ali Al-Habsi, an Omani goalkeeper on loan from Bolton, starting in goal sometime very soon. Either way they are going to struggle.

Wolves beat Stoke City by playing a good first half and getting a little luck. It was actually a pretty even match. Given that, I still expect Stoke to finish several spots ahead of Wolves.

West Brom are not going to get beat 6-0 every time out, but I predicted they would go down, and I have seen nothing to make me even reconsider that prediction.

Relegation Fodder (West Brom)

The promoted clubs are always going to be the favorites to go right back down, and West Bromwich Albion has been the definition of a yo-yo team for the last decade. This season will be their fifth in the top flight over the last ten years. Only once did they manage to stay up, and they went back down the next season. The season they stayed up they did so with 34 points, and despite being rock bottom at Christmas.

This club has a likable, yet inexperienced manager in Roberto Di Matteo. I don't have the statistics at my fingertips, but I am fairly certain that promoted clubs led by young managers with no Premier League experience tend to have a rather steep learning curve. This is compounded by the fact that they play at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea and at Anfield against Liverpool in August.

West Brom allowed roughly a goal a game last season in the Championship, while scoring nearly two a game. They are certainly not going to score two goals a game in the top flight. Unfortunately, they might concede close to that. I think they will put up more of a fight than Blackpool, and they might have a chance if other clubs pick up some injuries and struggle, but I can;t see this team getting more than 35 points at the most, and they will probably be closer to 30.

They count on midfielders Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans to provide the goals, as principal striker Roman Bednar just can't get it done at this level. Brunt is only 25, a Northern Irish international who has always shown a knack for scoring goals, and Di Matteo will rely heavily on him.

Dorrans is only 23, and really provides the Baggies with a creative spark. He had 19 assists last season in addition to his 13 goals. The problem for West Brom is that they need Dorrans to repeat this type of performance in a much better league, but if he does repeat the performance, they will have to sell him in January.